Hospitalist service in salinas

Coordinating Your Medical Care While at the Medical Center

During your stay at Salinas Valley Health Medical Center, you will be cared for by one of our staff physicians known as a hospitalist. These doctors are board-certified in either Internal Medicine or Family Practice with a primary focus in hospital medicine, and devote their practice to patients at Salinas Valley Health Medical Center. Hospitalists are specially trained to treat medical issues requiring acute hospitalization, and they manage your care until you are ready to be discharged. At this time, they coordinate with your PCP to resume care in the outpatient setting.

How the Hospitalist Service Works

An emergency department doctor or your primary care physician requests to have a hospitalist in charge of your care while you are in the hospital. The hospitalist service is made up of a team of doctors who provide round-the-clock care at Salinas Valley Health. One or more members of the team will oversee your care from the time you are admitted to the time you leave the medical center. The hospitalist may see you more than once a day, if needed, to coordinate care, order tests, arrange family conferences and make treatment decisions in consultation with specialists and your primary care physician.

The hospitalist, along with a Salinas Valley Health nurse case manager, will help make arrangements for any prescriptions and other follow-up care you may need after you leave the medical center. You may be asked to make an appointment with your primary care physician or a specialist. If you do not have a primary care physician, our case managers will help you find one and set up a follow-up visit. Your primary care physician will be responsible for your care after you leave the medical center, including authorizing refills of prescriptions and following up on test results. While you won’t have an appointment with the hospitalist after you are discharged, you are welcome to contact that doctor if you have questions about your medical center stay.

The hospitalist will work with your primary care physician while you are in the medical center. The reason for this is so your primary care physician can share information about your health history with the hospitalist, and the two doctors can discuss any significant findings. Your doctor is welcome to check on you and discuss your treatment plan with the hospitalist at any time during your stay. The hospitalist prepares detailed reports of your condition, test results and treatment plans when you are admitted and again when you are discharged and sends these records to your primary care physician.

If you or your family have questions about our Hospitalist Service, please call

831- 759-3257.